|
Latino Veterans recruited to aid home buyers
There are great demands to have bilinguals enter the mortgage banking
industry. More Hispanics are buying homes and many times because of the language
barrier, they are not receiving the information they need to purchase that home.
In order to bring attention to this problem, the Mortgage Bakers Association
(MBA), Freddie Mac, a coalition of Hispanic groups and the real estate banking
industry started a program for Hispanics in the military called “The Welcome
Home Program.”
Welcome Home provides free, web-based mortgage banking training for Latino men
and women transitioning from the US Armed Forces, veterans and family members of
both groups. The training is a first step in a campaign to increase the number
of bilingual Hispanic Americans in the mortgage banking profession to meet the
demand from the increase in Latinos’ buying homes. The Welcome Home program also
helps put trained participants in contact with mortgage banking companies that
may have job openings.
“Transitioning from military to civilian life is difficult. During this period,
nearly every serviceman worries about what’s next- finding a job,” said Jess
Quintero, president of the Hispanic War Veterans of America (HWVA). “Welcome
Home” offers bilingual Hispanics facing these issues with an opportunity- to put
language skills, military discipline and training to work in a good paying job
that in the end will ease the process of buying a home for other Hispanic
families.”
Hispanics are one of the most rapidly growing populations in the US. The largest
minority block in the country, an estimated 40 million Hispanics live in the
country, and estimates suggest that by 2050, this number will rise to 103
million. A recent study by the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute predicted that 1.5
million Latino households will buy a house by 2010. This would comprise about a
third of the buying market.
The same study also noted a significant “information gap” that impedes many
Latinos from purchasing a home.
Adolfo Ramirez, a recent graduate of Welcome Home, personally witnessed this
gap.
“Upon release from the military, I saw the difficulties my daughter experienced
while securing a mortgage on a home,” said Ramirez. “Language should never be an
impediment to owning a home. I turned to the Welcome Home program to help bridge
that language gap and I earned my certification in 8 months.”
He added, “Like most new Latin Americans, I have family and relatives who do not
understand English very well. They previously had to rely on getting information
about buying houses from secondary sources instead of a first hand source. Now I
have been able to help them.”
“Welcome Home is a creative marriage of necessity,” said Jonathan L. Kempner,
president and CEO of MBA. “We have a significant number of underserved Hispanics
in need of skilled Spanish-speaking professionals to help them buy homes. We
also know that the military instills a ‘can-do’ attitude into its men and women
that works well in the fast moving, real estate banking field. Most importantly,
Welcome Home is a way of saying ‘Thank You’ to the men and women in the Armed
Services who put their lives on the line for each of us.”
“Having more bilingual mortgage professionals help address the language barrier
that is keeping many Latinos from pursuing their dream of owning a home,” said
Craig Nickerson, vice president of Expanding Markets for Freddie Mac.
“Homeownership is often considered the first step to wealth creation for a
family and that wealth is passed down from generation to generation.”
In addition to Freddie Mac and MBA, the coalition includes the National
Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, the Hispanic War Veterans of
America, the National Puerto Rican Coalition, BB&T, CitiMortgage, GMAC Mortgage
and US Bank Home Mortgage.
For detailed information on the Welcome Home program or to talk to
representatives about Hispanics in today’s real estate market, please call
Adriana Gallegos at (202) 337-0566 ex 19 or Teresa Schofield at (202) 557-2924
or visit the website <www.welcomehomegi.org>
| 
